Back in August I posted on the coming release of Tom Wolfe’s new novel, Back to Blood. In so doing I learned Mr. Wolfe has many fans among the Ricochetti, including Founding Father Peter Robinson. Well, today is the day, and the book has arrived to mixed reviews. As one might have expected, given that Wolfe rejects the “charming aristocracy,” among whose number you’ll find most book reviewers, the notices were less than enthusiastic at the New Yorker, the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times, among others. But the Miami Herald, the newspaper of the city where the novel is set, was more impressed.

I pre-ordered the book from Amazon (where, as I write this, it’s at number 28 among all books), and I eagerly await its arrival. I expect to enjoy it every bit as much as I have his earlier works, and I hope he sells a zillion copies. The hell with the charming aristocracy.

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I must say that I haven’t read Tom Wolfe, and the only thing I know about him was the Uncommon Knowledge interview with him. What book of his should I read? I’ve wanted to read something by him, but I don’t know which one to read.

I just picked up my copy of American Spectator, which has Tom Wolfe on the cover (a drawing of him anyway).

Here are a couple excerpts from James Coyne’s review:

“In Back to Blood [Wolfe] continues to bring it off. It may be that he succeeds because he understands, as our reigning literary commissars do not, that although the terms of social engagement have shifted dramatically, basic decency and standards of behavior have not. This basic insight, simple yet profound, is what a great number of readers–one suspects a majority–are hungry for in our literature.”

You can count among that group of readers.

The final paragraph:

“In these central characters, Tom Wolfe again gives us men in full, who in age of extraordinary uncertainty, embody the old verities–or perhaps, more accurately, the right stuff. And no matter how our society changes, that remains the same.”

Goldgeller: I must say that I haven’t read Tom Wolfe, and the only thing I know about him was the Uncommon Knowledge interview with him. What book of his should I read? I’ve wanted to read something by him, but I don’t know which one to read. · 58 minutes ago

Where to start? Bonfire of the Vanities; Man in Full; Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers; The Right Stuff, to name a few. All just excellent reads. · 2 hours ago

Two of my favorites are The Painted Word, a hilarious deconstruction of the nuttiness of post-war modern art in NYC and From Bauhaus to Our House, an equally hilarious deconstruction of the horrible architecture we were plagued with in the 20th century.

Goldgeller: I must say that I haven’t read Tom Wolfe, and the only thing I know about him was the Uncommon Knowledge interview with him. What book of his should I read? I’ve wanted to read something by him, but I don’t know which one to read. · 5 hours ago

I’d recommend starting with with The Right Stuff .. then on to Bonfire of the Vanities, A Man in Full, Charlotte Simmons

Goldgeller: I must say that I haven’t read Tom Wolfe, and the only thing I know about him was the Uncommon Knowledge interview with him. What book of his should I read? I’ve wanted to read something by him, but I don’t know which one to read. · 5 hours ago

I’d recommend starting with with The Right Stuff .. then on to Bonfire of the Vanities, A Man in Full, Charlotte Simmons · 36 minutes ago

That is a good recommendation and be prepared for descriptive, loooong sentences.

Goldgeller: I must say that I haven’t read Tom Wolfe, and the only thing I know about him was the Uncommon Knowledge interview with him. What book of his should I read? I’ve wanted to read something by him, but I don’t know which one to read. · 58 minutes ago

Where to start? Bonfire of the Vanities; Man in Full; Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers; The Right Stuff, to name a few. All just excellent reads. · 3 hours ago

Thank you everyone for the recommendations. I’ll have to check something out sooner rather than later. My reading list has just gotten so long! That’s a good thing! But how do I catch up?!

Goldgeller: I must say that I haven’t read Tom Wolfe, and the only thing I know about him was the Uncommon Knowledge interview with him. What book of his should I read? I’ve wanted to read something by him, but I don’t know which one to read. · 58 minutes ago

Where to start? Bonfire of the Vanities; Man in Full; Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers; The Right Stuff, to name a few. All just excellent reads.